Battery terminal connector



1956 w. e. TENNEY BATTERY TERMINAL CONNECTOR Filed May 5, 1955 UnitedStates Patent BATTERY TERMINAL CONNECTOR William G. Tenney, Chicago,Ill. Application May '5, 1955, Serial No. 506,146

2 Claims. (Cl. 339-433) This invention relates to a battery terminalconnector, and in particular it relates to a battery terminal connectorwhich is extremely compact and inexpensive to manufacture, and which maybe used as a replacement connector on automobile battery cables.

The terminal of the present invention utilizes a lead sheathed U-bolt ofthe type which has only the threaded end portions of its arm exposed,the entire base of the U and most of both arms being protected by thelead casing.

The cable end is clamped onto a one piece clamping member which has abar provided adjacent its ends with apertures to receive the arms of theU-bolt, and a neck portion which is perpendicular to one margin of thestraight bar and is narrower than the space between the apertures sothat it may extend away from the U-bolt parallel to the U-bolt arms. Theclamp bar is deep enough that the hex nuts by means of which theclamping member is secured to the U-bolt just clear the margins of theneck portion as they are screwed onto the threaded arms of the U-bolt.

At the outer end of the neck is a pair of laterally flaring ears toreceive upright bolts for cable attaching means which firmly secures theuninsulated end of the cable in a longitudinal position on the neck ofthe clamp member. The attaching means includes a pressure plate whichhas laterally extending portions opposite the ends of the U- bolt arms;and the length of the neck is such that when the bar of the clamp memberis clamped against a battery terminal post, there is insufficientclearance between the ends of the U-bolt and the pressure plate toremove the nuts from the U-bolt arms without sliding the clamp memberoutwardly with the nuts as they are unscrewed. Since the cable extendslongitudinally outwardly from the neck of the clamp member, thestiffness of the cable tends to urge the clamp bar against the terminalpost, so that if the nuts on the U-bolt loosen, they will ordinarilybutt against the pressure plate adjacent the cable end before they canfall off the U-bolt. Furthermore, the thrust of the cable against theclamping member takes off of the nuts some of the thrust which tends toloosen them,

The mounting of the clamp member so that it has a cable receiving neckportion extending longitudinally away from the U-bolt and the provisionof attaching means on the neck to clamp a cable end in a positionextending longitudinally from the neck provides a very compact simpleterminal member in which the various elements cooperate with the cablein a novel way.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of the device of the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a section taken as indicated along line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a section taken as indicated along line 4-4 of Figure 2;

2,774,054 Patented Dec. 11, 1956 Figure 5 is a section taken asindicated along line 5--5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a bottom plan view of the clamp member; and

Figure 7 is an end elevation of the clamp member.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, the battery terminal of thepresent invention includes a U-bolt 10 having arms 11 provided withthreaded end portions 12; and a lead sheath 13 covers all of the U-boltexcept its threaded end portions.

A clamp member, indicated generally at 14, has a straight clamp bar 15which has apertures 16 near its ends (Fig. 7) to receive the endportions 12 of the U-bolt arms, and perpendicular to a margin of theclamp bar 15 is a neck portion 17 which is narrower than the spacebetween the apertures 16 and extends away from the U-bolt parallel toits arms. The outer end of the neck 17 flares laterally to provide cars18 in which are holes 19 which are generally opposite the ends of U-boltarms 11. The clamp member 14 is secured on the arms of the U-bolt bynuts 20 so that a battery terminal post T may be firmly clamped betweenthe base of the U-bolt and the clamp bar 15.

The uninsulated end portion 21 of a cable 22 is firmly secured in aposition extending longitudinally of the outer end of the neck 17 byattaching means consisting of a laterally extending pressure plate 23which is clamped onto the cable end 21 by bolts 24 which extend throughthe holes 20 and through matching holes in the pressure bar, and nuts 25screwed onto said bolts.

As Figure 4 shows, the depth of the straight clamp bar 15 and the widthof the neck 17 are such that there is a small clearance for the hex nuts20 to turn when they are screwed onto the U-bolt to clamp the clampmember against the battery terminal post T.

As best seen in Figure 1, the pressure plate 23 of the cable attachingmeans has a shape substantially identical with that of the outer portionof the neck 17 and associated ears 18, and as seen in Figure 5, the endportions of the pressure plate are aligned with the ends of the U-boltarms 11. Thus, the hex nuts 20 may be removed from the U-bolt arms onlyby moving the clamp bar 15 out wardly along the arms behind the nuts 20as they are unscrewed. The normal stiilness of the battery cablethrusting inwardly on the clamp member 14 tends to prevent the clampmember from moving outwardly with the hex nuts unless direct linearforce is applied to the cable or to the clamp member. The length of theU-bolt arms 11 from a perpendicular plane tangent to the batteryterminal post plus the thickness of the nuts 20 is greater than thethickness of the clamp bar 15 plus the length of the neck 17 to the ears18, so that the thrust of the cable ordinarily prevents vibration of avehicle from loosening the hex nuts 20 to the point where they can falloil.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, for some modifications will be obvious to those skilled inthe art.

I claim:

1. A battery terminal connector comprising: a U-bolt having parallelarms adapted to embrace a battery terminal post; a clamping memberincluding a clamp bar having apertures adjacent its ends to receive theend portions of the U-bolt arms and an integral neck with extendsoutwardly from a transversely extending margin of said bar parallel tosaid arms, said neck being narrower than the space between the arms; andhaving laterally flared ears at its outer end provided with holes, saidears being wider than the space between said arms; fastening means for abattery cable including a laterally extending pressure plate which hasears substantially coextensive with those on the neck, and means forclamping the uninsulated end portion of a battery cable inalongitudinallyeigtending 7 U-bolt, the" length of said arms from aperpendiculap ptane-l tangent tolthe batteryterminal postplustthetthickness 'ot said nuts being greater than the thickness ofsaid claim bar plus the lengthof said neck-to saidears. p

2. A battery terminalnconnector comprising: a u bolt having parallelarmsadapted to embrace a battery termi-' nal postg a clamping member:including a clamp bar having apertures adjacent :its ends to receivetherend portions of the U-bolt arms and an integral neck -whichextendsoutwardly from between the ends of said bar parallel. to saidharms s aidneckbeing narrower than the space between the arms; cable'attachingmeans on the vneek'to receive the uninsulatedwend portionvof a batterycable which a tend longi ndinallyot the neck; said attaching. meansincluding laterally extending ears opposite the ends of the U-bolt arms;and nutsifastening said clamping membet to the U-bolt, the length ofsaid arms from a perpendicular plane tangent to the battery terminalpost plus the thickness of said nuts being greater than the thickness ofsaid clamp bar plus the: length of said neck to said laterally extendingears.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED. STATESIATENTSCarlson Oct. 17, 1939 Gdodnight- Apr. 10, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 824,361Germany Dec. 10, 1951

